The solar industry is ramping up for a big year. The impending release of federal stimulus dollars to states, providing funds in the many millions for conservation and renewable energy production, has utilities and solar firms rubbing their hands together in anticipation. So at least for the time being the problem of investment funds in a gloomy economy has been taken care of, the will power and support of the public are there as well, yet there is one looming problem that could be a wrench for the smooth and speedy completion of large scale solar projects.

The battle is nothing new. Most famously in southern California, a three-year battle between utility and environmental groups finally ended with the utility, Southern California Edison, relenting and rerouting transmission lines (from the solar plant in the Mojave desert to San Diego) around a protected State Park.

That California example is a likely harbinger of things to come. The problem is that large scale solar and wind farms require a huge swath of land for construction. One proposed solar farm would cover 8 to 9 percent of northern New Mexico. T. Boone Pickens’ famous wind farm (temporarily off the table) would have utilized over 200,000 acres in Texas.

Landscapes of that magnitude must obviously be located in remote areas, which means that to accomplish national renewable energy goals by way of utility-scale renewable energy generation, miles of new transmission lines will have to be built and connected to an already crippled national electric grid to boot.

Perhaps the oddest part of the whole battle-to-come is that it will pit environmentalists against Big Solar or, as may come to pass, the federal government. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has introduced legislation that would set renewable energy zones in western deserts and elsewhere, expediting debates over transmission and giving the federal government the right to step in if state regulators cannot resolve such issues in a timely manner.

It would seem, however, that there is no way around some battles in the coming push for renewable generation. Many renewable power plants, such as solar in the deserts and wind on the plains, will need hundreds of miles of new transmission lines to reach consumers. There is simply no avoiding environmental barriers, not to mention the less than appetizing (for many) prospect of gouging thousands of acres of pristine desert land for solar power plants that will only produce enough electricity to power a portion of one city’s homes.

Once again it begs the question: What about the millions of potential solar rooftops? Harry Reid’s legislation, for example, gives mention to distributed generation but the main implication remains on designating large rural zones (such as his home state’s deserts) as renewable energy hotspots. There is, frankly, not as urgent a need as claimed to build power plants hundreds of miles from cities: The cities themselves are power plants waiting to happen.

Especially with the federal government fixing to step into the transmission battle, perhaps the better long-term solution for the people would be to put power into the hands of the people rather than the utility. To do otherwise, it seems to be, would be to ignore a large part of the gift that is solar energy. To actually put solar power on every rooftop, however, would accomplish energy independence to the highest degree; not only do you free the country, you free the citizen as well. Any skeptics need only look at the history of states funding residential solar; only a lack of available funds has impeded even further distribution.

Perhaps we should also take a closer look at geothermal power plants, which can produce as much energy as proposed solar or wind power plants, but require far less surface area for production.

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Posted on April 6th in Solar Politics by Dan.